North Carolina – Blue Ridge Parkway Part 2

Section 2 – mm 443-412

We did the previous stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway from our campsite in the Smoky Mountains without the trailer, but now the trailer is with us as we picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway where we left off.

We stopped at overlooks along the way.

We took the short Roy Taylor Overlook Trail to a viewing platform.

Bill just fit

We drove up, up, up to the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway – elevation 6,053ft.

Bill hiked the nearby Richland Balsam loop. The trees in the mountain-top spruce-fir forest weren’t that tall.

The cliff in the picture below is called Devil’s Courthouse. We hiked up to a viewing area on the top of the cliff.

Here’s the view.

After we hiked down from Devil’s Courthouse, we chatted with a backpacking couple with a dog. They were taking several months to do the 930-mile Mountain-to-Sea Trail.

It starts at Clingmans Dome, follows close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then turns to the North Carolina coast, eventually ending at Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks. (We’ve been at both ends.) Wow. What an adventure! They were still smiling after 100 miles.

We stopped at the Graveyard Fields Overlook where we hiked down the steep .4-mile trail to Second Falls.

Bill on rocks at the base of Second Falls

Then Bill continued on to the Upper Falls, a 2.5-mile round-trip.

This section of the Blue Ridge parkway overlooks national forests and has spectacular scenery and viewpoints.

Most of the parkway campgrounds aren’t open yet, so we turned off the parkway, taking steep, windy US-276 to a National Forest campground. On the way we stopped at Looking Glass Falls.

 

campground: Davidson River in Pisgah National Forest

Blue Ridge Parkway miles traveled: 31 miles today